On March 17, 2017 Chris Wendt was awarded the Beyond the Call of Duty Award. 

“Chris has been an invaluable part in changing the landscape and culture of the Somerville Police Departments. His fingerprints are on just about every new initiative. He was instrumental in the push for, and implementation of, the Commanders Patrol Book. 

His technical savvy and analytic skills have turned our biweekly-CrimeStat meetings into events that other police chiefs attend to learn “how to do it,” as evidenced when the chief and command staff from the New Bedford Police Department attended a recent CrimeStat meeting.

Currently, Chris is spearheading the effort to implement a new software package so that procedures in investigating cases in the CID can be standardized and tracked. In addition, he suggested we use the same software to track awards given to officers, so that when an officer receives a Life-Saving Award, we will know if it is the first time the officer has been recognized for saving a life, or if it has occurred in the past. 

Day and night, whether Chris is on-duty or not, he sends out BOLOs to warn officers of impending danger. Today, March 14, 2017, it is snowing; a blizzard is coming, and all non-sworn personnel have been given the day off. Chris just sent out the daily crime bulletin. 

Chris is a tremendous asset to the Department. He does his job—not for recognition—but because he cares. For these reasons, and countless more not listed, Chris is hereby awarded the Department’s Beyond The Call Of Duty Award.”